


The Inevitable Bet

by mogumoguri



Category: Red Velvet (K-pop Band)
Genre: F/F
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-08-29
Updated: 2020-09-20
Packaged: 2021-03-07 00:55:37
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 16,844
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26178355
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/mogumoguri/pseuds/mogumoguri
Summary: “Anyway, it’s called the Irene challenge. If you confess your feelings to Bae Joohyun, no matter who you are, she will accept it and voila, she will go out with you… but of course there’s a huge twist to that - No one has ever dated her for more than 100 days."
Relationships: Bae Joohyun | Irene/Son Seungwan | Wendy
Comments: 34
Kudos: 171





	1. Battle with the goddess of Luck

**Author's Note:**

> HELLO EVERYONE
> 
> I'll go in another attempt for a multi-chaptered fic!
> 
> I hope this introductory chapter will give you a clear insight of the direction I'm planning for the story!
> 
> P.S. The story update might be less frequent compared to my previous fics because the next months will be the busiest months for my work, but I'll still update it as soon as possible regardless!
> 
> P.S. I'm also sorrry in advance for some explicit words!
> 
> Feel free to give comments or suggestions!! I absolutely love reading each of the comments you leave. <3 Once again, thank you so much!!

*

Have you ever wondered if the goddess of Luck has a thing like favoritism in this cruel, realistic world?

Life is unfair – Luck is unequal – That was what Son Seungwan _sort of_ concluded in the midst of her Physics class – Her last class before the 12 o’clock lunch break which she has greatly yearned for more than the usual days she had.

She had concluded, as she sat on the second to the last row by their seating arrangement as it was organized in surname-basis and not by height - _as much as she hated being associated by her height qualities_ – which made things so much harder for her to see the equations written on the whiteboard looking like an ant-sized font.

She had concluded, as their professor imposed a burdensome math problem for their individual assignment just right exactly when her heart was feeling heavy and her mind was not in the most perfect state.

She had concluded, as her classmates’ voice of complaints due to the difficulty of the given math problem lingered on her ears and she can’t even give her full attention to the ongoing class.

Life is unfair – Luck is unequal, and she dreadfully reflected on what she had possibly done badly to the goddess of Luck to play with her this way.

“Kindly submit the solution at our next meeting which is due next Wednesday. Late submission will automatically result in a failing grade. Class dismissed.” Her professor concluded while shutting down his old-model laptop.

_Sigh. Goodness._ Seungwan closed her eyes out of relief that the class was finally over, calming down the unnecessary headache she felt the whole duration of the period.

The brunette didn’t mind the flow of people around her and took her own pace to stand, adjust her glasses, and gather her books and papers filled with scribbled numbers connected to the lesson just now. Unbeknownst to her, a shadow was slowly lurking at her from behind.

“Seungwan-ah!” She slightly flinched with the sudden happy tap on her left shoulder, but she did not bother looking at the perpetrator, since only one person could ever invade her personal space with that heartwarming and cheerful voice.

“You’re quite early today, Sseul.”

“Hmmm, I don’t think so, your class was just late to dismiss today.” She felt another tap on her shoulder. “Seungwan-ah! It’s the last day of classes for this week. Let’s eat at our usual burger joint today!”

_Seungwan hated declining her best friend, but she really can’t help it... Just not today._

“Sorry, Sseul. I’m not in the mood to eat something heavy today.”

The red-haired woman in a bun scrunched her eyebrows.

“Even if it’s my treat?”

_It was almost tempting._

“...Even if it’s free.”

“Did something happen? You don't decline treats usually.”

Seungwan silently slung her black tote bag over her right shoulder and marched with her best friend on their way outside of the room before answering. “….Kind of. Plenty. I don’t know. Let’s just find something light for lunch and-”

“Are you okay?”

A single question stopped her on her tracks as she looked far at the view of the lengthy corridor filled with erratic college students - experiencing all sorts of struggles and problems the same as her, just like her.

But definitely no one has the same feeling as her.

She contemplated. Being ‘okay’ is a very broad scope. Numerous thoughts instantly crossed her mind, firstly within the scope of her academic performance – which she thinks she’s still doing okay especially she’s aiming for the highest grade to maintain her scholarship. She also had enough allowance to survive the dormitory rents. It might be physical? Aside from the headache from her previous class, she can say she’s pretty much healthy-

No, scratch all that. She knows what Seulgi was talking about. She knows her answer, and her best friend of eight years deserved to know.

“Not really." She surrendered. "...No, I’m not okay.”

She faced the red-haired woman with a melancholic sigh.

“I got dumped yesterday.”

“I see… Wait. What?”

At first, it was just a casual eye widening, and then her breathing slowly staggered, and suddenly her jaw dropped like as if she saw an indescribable alien from outer space.

Kang Seulgi shrieked in the middle of the corridor.

“Wait!! What!? Really?! When?? How?! Why!? Who—but wait!! You’re dating her right?! Wait---” Seulgi shifted closer to whisper. “You and Park Sooyoung, right?!”

“Yeah. Yesterday.” Seungwan took this as her cue to resume their tracks, probably as a way to distract herself as well.

Seulgi followed her from behind with a dark expression. “I can’t believe this. W-Why… You two were happy just a week ago-“

“Relationships are unpredictable, Kang Seulgi.”

“Did she at least tell you why?”

Seungwan clutched the strap of her hand bag tighter to preserve her heart as she recalled the events of yesterday while they descended a multiple batch of stairs.

The brunette answered in a way that she can still keep a piece of herself.

“She told me I was not enough.” It was not in her intention for her voice to crack.

“Oh.” Seulgi stopped on her tracks which she took notice of immediately. She saw the grimace expression from the other woman which she then continued. “I’m sorry. I should’ve been more sensitive in asking.”

Seungwan raised a brow before flashing a gentlest smile she could muster. “Hey, Sseul. What are you saying? You didn’t do anything wrong. In any case, it was me.” She shrugged as she continued. “Sorry for making you worry.”

It made her feel really bad – for making Seulgi worry, and for being this depressed in front of the public.

Her recent breakup made her totally out of focus. Her mind was in shambles especially because she thought she gave everything she could for her first love, for her first girlfriend.

During the span of their six-month relationship, she made sure that Sooyoung was her main priority – more than her academic standing, more than her own happiness.

Park Sooyoung was everything she could ever ask for – and it broke her heart into million pieces knowing that she could not fulfill what Park Sooyoung could ever ask for.

Tears were starting to sting her eyes. She thought she had cried a lot enough the night before, but it will hurt her pride more if she sobbed in the middle of the staircase which would probably reach the ears of the woman who made her feel this way, and she will hate herself more if that happens.

But more than anything, it will hurt her more to see her Seulgi be as lonely as she is.

“Don’t worry, I’m going to be okay.” Seungwan assured. She promised to herself that she will tell Seulgi the whole story someday. “Let’s just eat this sadness out and buy a Milk Tea or something for comfort.”

The red-haired gently smiled as they continued their stairs descent. The dragging silence was the red-haired woman’s cue to speak as an attempt to console her friend.

“Relationships are so hard to understand these days.”

“…There are too many factors in a relationship, you know. I’ve learned it in the hard way.” Seungwan bit her lip. “Love is simply not enough: Time, Social Standing, Beliefs, Commitment, Compatibility-“

“And Dedication. Let’s add that in the list.” Seulgi emphasized.

“Wow, that’s something big.” Seungwan teasingly glanced at her friend as they made their way outside the building. “Looks like someone’s finally getting a first-hand experience?”

“No! No no no, no experience at all!” She violently shook her head. “There’s just... this challenge you've probably heard of as well lately, it made me think relationships are not taken too seriously nowadays.”

“What do you mean? Challenge?” The brunette scrunched her face while walking slowly along with the waves of people on their way to the in-campus fast food chains.

“...You know, the _Irene_ challenge.”

“…Irene challenge?” Seungwan tilted her head. _Nope. No idea at all. "What's that?"_

Both of them stopped on their tracks in the middle of the sidewalk.

Kang Seulgi blinked at her for one, two… almost countless times.

“You’re not aware of that?!”

“Wha…” Seungwan gasped along with her best friend’s sudden outburst. Knowing Seulgi’s demeanor, this was unusual. “I-I won’t ask you if I know something about it!!”

_Weird. Was that challenge so popular and important for someone like Kang Seulgi to erupt like that?!_

Seulgi released her grip from her collar and exhaled an air filled with enormous disappointment.

“Seungwan-ah, this is bad. Books are keeping you away from society.” The red-haired woman fixed the brunette’s collar as a mini apology after receiving an angry glare. “Anyway, it’s called the _Irene_ challenge. According to some of the gossips, if you confess your feelings to Bae Joohyun, no matter who you are, she will accept and go out with you… but of course there’s a huge twist to that.”

Seulgi tapped the brunette’s shoulders.

“No one has ever dated her for more than 100 days.”

_What…?_

**_What?!_ **

“O-One hundred days?!” Seungwan unconsciously raised her voice which caused some of the people to turn their heads in their direction, but she didn’t mind. “Wait… Joohyun… Bae Joohyun… Bae Joohyun...?! Wait. Isn’t that our…”

“Yup.” Seulgi nodded. “None other than our very own Central Student Council President.”

_Bae Joohyun._

It will be an understatement to say she’s popular. She’s a lot more than that: She **_is_** the icon of their own – Seoul Central University.

Needless to say, she can even be described as the ultimate role model – Astonishing grades, overflowing extracurricular records, her goddess-like beauty, as well as belonging to a family of an upper class and her overall tactical prowess: Bae Joohyun the perfect all-rounder, she is the visual of the whole university herself.

“Wow… b-but, why?! I mean, she **is** the Bae Joohyun, the greatly hailed goddess of this oh-so-prestigious university,” She motioned her hands widely to signify everything around them. “…And yet no one has ever lasted for more than a hundred days?!”

“Apparently, yeah.” Seulgi tilted her head. “I was honestly surprised too. I didn’t believe it at first until I heard some specific rumors from the Photography Club.”

“And that is…?”

“…Kim Jun Myeon, our Central Vice…” She lowered her voice gradually. “They said he asked her out, but they only lasted for - like - a month. Some saw him whining around the basketball court bleachers.”

“Damn…” Seungwan winced. “That sounds awful.”

She tightly clenched her fists.

“I know, right? And now, I think they’re betting for Park Bogum - from the College of Medicine, if he can date our Council President for more than a month.” The red-haired shook her shoulders out of disgust.

_“It quickly turned into a betting game.”_

_…_

A few seconds have passed and Seulgi raised her head to look at the brunette, which is now wearing a horrified expression.

The other person gulped as she felt the shiver. “S-Seungwan-ah…? Are you okay-”

“How could they…”

Seungwan gritted her teeth out of immense anger.

_Everything was too disrespectful, a disgrace._

It was too offensive. The way they juggle relationships like a ball that can be easily replaced once it falls into the ground; the way they play with human emotions like an easy game – as someone whose heart was recently broken despite treating love as seriously as she could - this rumor, this challenge, this whole damned idea itself, is already extremely disappointing enough.

“How could they even think of something like that...”

Her thought process was suddenly disrupted when a bell serving as the students’ reminder for the 12 o’clock time rang all around the campus.

Seulgi sighed with relief. “Enough with the rumors for now, let’s go chow or else we’ll be late for our next afternoon class.

“All right.” Seungwan weakly smiled. She tried to divert her attention to her excitement over purchasing her very much awaited comfort Milk Tea...

…But she is failing miserably.

Bae Joohyun, in a sense, has everything people desired in this world: Looks, Fame, Intelligence, Money, Power…

…Admiration.

Everyone would definitely want her, everyone would be head-over-heels for her, and she could have anyone she wanted as well… and yet, no one has even lasted for longer than a hundred days.

It irritated her.

Bae Joohyun has all the qualities everyone desired, she had the qualities that would make a person want you, and if Son Seungwan had that, probably… Just probably… Park Sooyoung would probably stay in her life much longer-

Damn it. She hated that damn challenge so much.

No matter what reasons she had for dating someone not longer than a hundred days, for accepting every confession given to her, for planting people false hopes that someone as perfect as her can love someone regardless of who they are, no matter what angle you look at it,

It’s just…

_“…feels so wrong.”_ Seungwan furiously, sadly whispered as they entered the nearest fast food store for lunch.

*

[Day 0]

“Ugh.” Seungwan grumbled while carrying a stack of bond papers filled with heavy black inks.

It was Wednesday: The Physics class doomsday. It was the submission of their stressful assignment which she had spent numerous nights – as a way to repent for her heavily distracted emotional state - looking for a brief and precise explanation about Torques and Forces, and eventually she found the answer she was contented with.

Surprisingly, their professor was absent on that exact day. _That old geezer._ After a collection of votes from the block, they all decided for Seungwan, the top 1 of their class, to carry their answer sheets to the faculty room because obviously the scholar Seungwan is the most trusted student from their block by their professor… but that information didn’t comfort her in the slightest.

After entering the Main Campus Building and located the professor’s faculty room, she left the stack of papers quietly and retreated to the room respectfully. It was a big but quite unfamiliar building since she rarely had any classes that required their block to be there, so she took her time to roam around the building as well as appreciating her alone time to compose herself better.

On the last set of stairs to the ground floor, she slowly turned around to the right, passing a small alleyway. It is quite dark and hidden, but it was the quickest way to the entrance so she passed through it and-

“We can still fix this, please…” A deep man’s voice echoed all throughout the hallway.

Judging from the sound of his voice, it can be assumed the man was along the small alleyway beside the stairs.

Son Seungwan was not a gossip enthusiast at all, she despised eavesdropping especially it felt like she was crossing the privacy line which she had no right at all. Heck, she doesn’t even know who that man is.

_But that line and emotion... It hits too close to home._

Flashbacks of a certain night where she tried to make the love of her life stay appeared unsolicited in her mind as she leaned on the nearest wall to listen quietly on how the man will fight for his relationship and cheered for him from the bottom of her heart.

“Please…” The man desperately pleaded. “Please give me one more chance. Please give me more time to prove myself. I’m really in love with you.”

Seungwan shivered at the man’s despair – and Seungwan shivered at her own despair.

_We are really willing to go through the low just to save our love, aren’t we?_

“If you’ll give me one last chance-“

**“No.”**

Damn.

The reply was brief and concise. The seriousness of the woman’s voice was enough to make the hidden brunette cringe. It was the end for him, she thought.

“But-“

“I’m sorry.” The woman heaved a quick huff. “I’m sorry for the past few days, but I don’t want this relationship to go on further anymore.”

“Can I at least know why?”

A short pause.

_This feels like a painful déjà vu._

“I don’t feel anything when I’m with you.”

Seungwan bitterly winced. It was so devastating to listen to the whole spectacle. After a long while, she heard soft cracks of breath. It was probably from the rejected man.

“I’m so sorry.” The woman firmly uttered once again, then a set of heavy footsteps can be heard coming closer to her direction.

_Oh shit-_

As the series of footsteps grew closer, she had no choice left but to just close her eyes and pray for a mantra that any mankind knew to save her from this complicated mess she indulged in.

One… Two…

Surprisingly, the man went in the opposite direction of the hallway.

It seems the goddess of Luck took a pity on her today. “ _Thank Goodness”,_ Seungwan silently prayed.

Just when she was about to exhale out of relief, a shivering voice echoed around the small alleyway.

“I’m sorry to break your eavesdropping moment, but until when are you going to hide there?”

_Who is she kidding? The goddess of Luck probably just took her lunch break and had a stronger comeback this time. #GoddessOfLuck1stWin._

Seungwan clicked her tongue and peeked at the corner of the wall to look at the woman in question.

Her breath hitched.

To be greeted by a deep brown orbs she can easily get lost into, to be greeted by a beautiful, swaying black hair dancing in harmony with the wind.

To be greeted by the Central Student Council President in a distance this close.

To be greeted by _the_ Bae Joohyun.

She knows this face, this woman. It would be impossible not to know this woman. But to see her behind the spotlight, within the dark alleyway and in this vulnerable state, it was entirely different. It felt entirely different.

Son Seungwan was instantly stunned.

She now understood what her peers meant when they said that Bae Joohyun had an inexplicable powerful presence that you can’t resist, and she must say it is entirely true. She was now extremely trembling to bits.

The glaring woman crossed her arms and squinted her eyes like she was analyzing and judging her whole being. If Joohyun declares she’s a criminal, she will almost unquestioningly oblige.

But it’s understandable. She eavesdropped. It is a normal reaction for her to be wary of her presence.

Seungwan raised her two hands out of guilt.

“Don’t worry.” She stated, earning a raised eyebrow from the raven-haired woman. “I won’t tell anyone what happened here, not even to my best friend.” Joohyun squinted further. “…not even to my mother. Your secret’s safe with me.”

The Council President watched the spectacle with an unreadable expression. After the brunette concluded, she marched forward to be in the same direction as her. “Don’t bother. It doesn’t matter, regardless.”

“…Huh?”

“It’s not like I’m hiding this information from anyone. It doesn’t matter if the news spreads.”

She took a step forward, almost now in front of her.

“But if you’ll keep your silence, then you’ll have my gratitude.”

After a brief bow, she walked past the brunette as if nothing happened. _What the hell?_

But that was the correct sequence of events, right? She should leave the Council President alone - after all, she doesn’t have the right to complain about her business. She has her own life as well as she has hers.

She had no right to meddle, but that was the main cause of what was troubling her for the past few days.

She hated how she always acted out of instinct, but if she won’t act right now, she will definitely regret it sooner or later.

She figured it was her only chance. It will be a one-time event, after all.

After a little bit of distance, the silence of the hallway too fragile was immediately broken too easily like a brittle glass.

“…Wait.”

“…Hmm?” The raven-haired stopped her steps and glanced sideways.

It’s now or never.

To hell with this. Nevertheless, she needs to talk to Bae Joohyun, for her personal peace of mind.

_To save her belief of relationships. For her pride._

“Do you have no plans of stopping this?”

“…Stopping what?”

“This irrational challenge of yours. This stupid _Irene_ challenge of yours.” Seungwan stepped forward to the raven-haired woman that had completely turned around to face her. “I don’t know the reason why you’re doing this, but I assure you that this foolish idea of yours is not a solution.”

Bae Joohyun released a mocking laugh.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about.” She then raised her head to meet the infuriating eyes of the brunette. “…And whatever that is, what I’m doing is clearly none of your concern, Son Seungwan.”

Seungwan clenched her jaw. “Yeah, I know.”

_She damn knew._ She’s not authorized to meddle, that’s why this whole escapade irritated her so much.

“And you really thought I should just let this thing happen in front of my eyes just because it’s not any of my business? I’m not like you.” Seungwan stepped forward further and pointed at Joohyun’s chest. “I have a heart, unlike you.”

The Council President narrowed her eyes. “He chose it.”

“…What?”

“He chose to be involved with me. He chose to be hurt. Hurting is a consequence of loving, and he loved me.” Joohyun instinctively crossed her arms. “Hurting them is not my intention. It is the end result of my attempt to reciprocate their feelings, but in the end it failed. I can’t.”

“You can’t…?” She huffed an uncontrollable rage. “So that’s your shitty reason for endlessly repeating this charade of breaking up with people after accepting their confession!? If you can’t love a person then stop accepting every love confession given to you, damn it! You’re hurting them rather than helping!”

Joohyun avoided the raging dark orbs from the brunette. “…I had no choice. They told me they love me.”

“…For only that reason!? Seriously…?!”

Things are getting worse at their every exchange.

But everything suddenly turned into a much unexpected direction after uttering the most idiotic, mindless line she had spoken out of her twenty-one years of living.

Maybe she was just too angry to think thoroughly. Maybe she was just offended at their University’s most respectable Central Student Council President’s senseless reasoning.

Maybe she was just too tired of the unfairness of the world.

Maybe she will never know the answer.

None, even a little bit, did she know that uttering that line will be the end of something,

And none, even a little bit, did she know that uttering that line will be the start of everything.

“Then, if I told you that I love you right at this very moment, then you’re going to accept my confession and go out with me? You think I’ll just let you proceed with your bullshit?”

Joohyun looked at her with a blank expression. After a few seconds, her eyes started to widen, almost comically, out of character.

But Seungwan was too enraged to take notice of the raven-haired woman’s reaction.

She was too enraged to project her failure in love and relationship to Bae Joohyun’s idiotic and unrealistic actions.

“You won’t, right?! See?! You can’t just accept any confession thrown in front of your face!! You’ll just plant false hopes to people that you can love them and accept them and-and made them feel that they’re the happiest person in the world but in the end-“ Seungwan closed her eyes as she felt her heart ache. “You can’t… You can’t. That’s why… Stop this, please. It’s too unfair.”

Silence slowly engulfed the tense alleyway. Numerous seconds have passed but she received no response from the raven-haired.

_This was awkward._ Seungwan thought. She has finally let out everything she wanted to say, but it feels like things are still not resolved at all after this.

The pain in her heart was not resolved at all, rather, it just made her feel worse as she realized she hasn’t even moved on at all.

But she did everything she could, maybe that was enough.

Seungwan took a step back and slightly bowed down to the stupefied woman in front of her. “That’s all. I-I’m sorry for disturbing you. Thank you very much.”

After that short speech, she hurriedly stepped away from Bae Joohyun. She needs to get away as soon as possible, as she decided that she will never talk to her again.

She promised herself that this will be the last time that they will interact.

_But then again, it was only wishful thinking._

Everything changed when the goddess Bae Joohyun attacked.

**_“I can.”_ **

“What…?”

Son Seungwan suddenly froze into place. She slowly turned her head around, and she felt it.

The air around them tremendously changed.

_“I accept your challenge.”_

“….What?” The brunette nervously chuckled, cold sweat tickling at the back of her neck. “What challenge…?”

Life is unfair – Luck is unequal – That was what Son Seungwan _sort of_ concluded as she stood in the middle of the hallway inside her university’s central building.

She had concluded, as she witnessed the most recent breakup of their university’s hailed goddess and a poor man getting dragged out from an unnecessary and crazy challenge.

She had concluded, as she heard the same goddess - Bae Joohyun’s most confident declaration.

“I accept your confession. I’ll go out with you, Son Seungwan.”

…What?

Her eyes gravely pierced her like she was her prey.

….What?!

She looked at her like she was her enemy, later to be destroyed.

Wait. What?!

“W-Wait!! Wait, wait wait?! G-Go out- What?! Wait!! Dammit, that’s not what I was-“

Bae Joohyun strutted until Seungwan was in her arms-reach and she lifted her head with her right hand.

“I would love to discuss our terms and conditions, but unfortunately I have a council meeting pretty soon.” The goddess pointed on her watch. _What the hell…?_ “Expect soon that I will reach out to you and we will have a clear discussion of our situation.” _What the hell!?_

Son Seungwan was getting dizzier.

“I’ll see you later, Son Seungwan. I’m looking forward to our.. _loving_ relationship.” Joohyun smirked before turning around and marched forward, away from the hallway.

The devastated brunette terrifyingly watched as the taller woman disappeared from the distance.

Everything went by so fast that she cannot follow what’s going on anymore.

Life is unfair – Luck is unequal – and she could only mutter one line as the start of her daily living nightmare. _#GoddessOfLuck2ndWin._

“You’re… joking, right…?”

And thus, the challenge begins.

*


	2. A spicy lunch for a spicy story

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> HELLO HELLO
> 
> I was so so so happy with the feedbacks from the chapter 1! Thank you very much for your huge support!!! It gave me a lot of motivation to write continuously and I hope I won't disappoint! AAAAAAAAA
> 
> P.S. I saw some comments about some of the plot points and BJH knowing SSW's full name is intentional! This chapter will contain some of the build up, but on the future chapters the days will pass by in a moderate phase. Stay tuned!
> 
> P.S. Thank you very much to twt users @redsummer0801, @Ultramarine_WR, and @kinulayan for giving me the insights that I need!! Please take care of me more in the future!

*

**Chapter 2**

[Day 1]

Have you ever felt like there’s an event that has happened too surreal that it felt like it was almost a dream?

It was probably a dream - Son Seungwan _sort of_ concluded as she daydreamed in the midst of their Electronics class - her last class before the 12 o’clock lunch break for her Thursday schedule.

Was it all just an imagination of her? A mirage of her rants of failure?

Well… ever since that _cursed_ encounter with the Devil-in-disguise Central Student Council President Bae Joohyun, they haven’t had another interaction again.

Maybe it was a prank? Maybe the raven-haired woman realized it was just a threat?

Son Seungwan greatly wished Bae Joohyun just simply tagged it as a threat while analyzing the logic of the wires to be connected along the breadboard to reach her expected outcome.

She wanted to value her peaceful days like this. No stress, just academic tests. Her emotional life was already in shambles enough because of the recent events in life, she doesn’t want the menacing _Irene_ challenge to add to her concerns, or let alone getting involved with it. She doesn’t want to get involved with anything related to Bae Joohyun. Ever again.

That frightening woman was so unpredictable. If Seungwan will describe her, the woman is like a walking timebomb, powerful enough that she could probably wreck anything she touches within a certain period of time. The way she straightforwardly charges without weighing the consequences of her actions made her too dangerous to get involved with.

Bae Joohyun is a force to be reckoned with.

And Son Seungwan studied enough Physics to predict that Bae Joohyun will be a force she probably could not handle that easily.

That’s why it was probably better for the two of them to cut ties, and it will be a relief for her that it was Bae Joohyun herself who will completely cut their ties.

And just when she was starting to settle to the disengaged thought, everything was once again wrecked into shambles.

_The university broadcasting radio suddenly went live in an unusual hour._

The class suddenly had a minor uproar, assuming that there was an emergency situation happening within the campus.

The broadcasting radio is like the university’s main communication for any important announcement that the executives would like to announce to all of the students: Ranging from suspension of classes, non-working holidays, up to official events handled by the Central Student Council....

Central Student Council…

Haha.

**Oh, boy.**

She had a _very, very_ bad feeling about this.

Seungwan gripped her favorite pen and continued to analyze some logic patterns to brush off the growing alarming feeling gradually rising within her chest, until…

_This is not about her, this is not about her, this is not about her-_

“Paging - Son Seungwan of Class 3-ECE-A, Paging - Son Seungwan of Class 3-ECE-A. The Central Student Council would like to speak with you personally. Please proceed to the Main Building Conference Room after you have received this message. I repeat-”

...

She can almost feel her pen snapping into two with how hard she clutched the long object out of extreme disbelief.

_That nasty witch._

Seungwan felt like her body was suddenly in auto-pilot as she gathered all of her belongings in the middle of class and hurriedly slung her tote bag despite the uncomfortable feeling of being disarranged in connection to her clean-freak self. She almost wanted to hiss at every eye of her blockmates with the way they look at her with judgment and curiosity.

She was in an instant spotlight. _Great_.

Well, it’s not like it’s a common thing for your classmate to be called out by the university-wide Student Council and paged within the whole university itself, right? _So lovely._

That freaking nasty witch.

She bowed down to her professor and bolted outside of the room as quickly as she could.

As she jogs all the way outside of the building she suddenly felt her phone vibrating inside her jean’s front pocket.

_[ 12 missed calls ]_

_[ Kang Seulgi ]_

Damn it.

She swiftly answered the current call while maintaining her pace as she ran.

[“Yah!! Son Seungwan!! You. Finally. Answered!! You mushroom head!!! What the hell did you do?!”]

“It’s…” She paused briefly to catch her breath. “It’s a bit... complicated..”

[“Summarize it!! Seungwan-ah, everyone is talking about you!!”]

That crazy freaking nasty witch..!!

“I uhhh…” _I was an unlucky idiot who witnessed a crazy woman heartlessly breaking up with a man and I was a big dumbass, and guess what? Surprise! I’m the new cursed challenger in this irrational shit- “..._ I had a… _slightly_ friendly... encounter with the Council President..”

[“Yeah? Yeah... I’ll pretend I believe that crap and celebrate here, alone, that my best friend is being called out to the court that might affect her scholarship because of a ‘slightly friendly encounter’. I am entirely convinced, Seungwan-ah.”]

“I’ll tell you the whole details, I swear….” The brunette ran her hands through her hair while calming her lungs down in front of the Main Building. “...But before that, I have to… uhh… survive this… ordeal first..”

[“I’m really worried about you.”] Seulgi released an exasperated sigh. [“I’m going there straight right after my current class, okay? Don’t do anything real - big stupid.”]

“I know, I know. I’ll see you soon.” Seungwan dropped the call immediately and straightened her body for composure.

She’s going to face the wrath of hell in the form of a woman for the second time.

As she walks along the corridor on her way to the Conference Room, Seungwan can clearly feel the ghosts of rumors through the whispers and glances around her. Every step felt heavier the more she pressed forward, as if she’s on her way to her punishment for committing a treason… Does what she did considered treason? Well, Bae Joohyun, as what her admirers always say, is the queen, is the moment, the city, the country-

Regardless, whatever she is, she’s still pissed off as hell.

 _“This asshole…”_ Seungwan hissed ferociously.

She hardly clutched the handle of the door that leads to the Conference Room.

The brunette let out a few huffs of angry breath as a last attempt to calm herself.

To hell with this - wow, _she had been cursing a lot ever since meeting the raven-haired woman_ \- She wants an all-out war? Then they’ll have an all-out war. She’s going to make sure that she will have the last laugh in whatever nonsensical game this is.

With the newly found courage, she pushed the door forward.

_“I swear, I’m going to make you regret this-”_

_*_

“-...You asshole.” She unconsciously sweared louder than what she had anticipated.

Seungwan was greeted by a white, rectangular and spacious room with a brown long table in the center surrounded by numerous vacant office chairs.

It was almost empty, Seungwan thought it was empty… Until a heavy but serene-like voice echoed around her.

“Good afternoon as well to you, Son Seungwan.” The brunette searched across the room, and she easily located the ever-so-gorgeous Devil Incarnate in disguise, of course she noted that the witch was smirking. _Truly evil._

“What do you want, woman? Let’s end this charade quickly. I know both of us don’t have the leisure time to dilly-dally until lunch-”

“What a profane greeting you had earlier, is this how you speak to your _Central Student Council President_ , especially inside the _Student Council’s Conference Room?_ ”

This woman is taunting her for sure.

_Oh well, this is a 2-player game._

“Probably. My level of respect varies specifically on how people will show their individual respect to me.”

“Oh, and my position is not enough to garner your respect?”

_That crazy freaking nasty menacing witch._

“I don’t know, is it also the Central Student Council President’s duty to use it’s power for personal concerns like, paging someone using the University’s broadcasting radio - and now every living being confined within these gates has finally known my name?!”

“You can’t blame me.” Joohyun tapped her closed pen numerous times along the surface of the long table. “...I don’t have your number. I don’t know your schedule. I only know your name so paging you is my only choice.”

“Don’t you have some sense of decency in reaching out to people?! You’re the Student Council President here! You’re the one with connections to people!!”

“I **_am_** the Student Council President here,” Joohyun said authoritatively. “..and I have the choice and control to use my resources as much as I want to, and let me get this straight. I don’t want to rely on other people around me.”

“Hah, are you that prideful to ask people for help? Can’t get off your high horse, Ms. President?”

“No.” Bae Joohyun put her pen down and stared at the brunette standing on the opposite end of the table.

“I’m going to work this relationship with you out of my own efforts... as your Girlfriend.”

“As my w-w-What?!”

Seungwan looked at Joohyun like a flabbergasted goldfish. Did she hear it right…?!

“G-g-g-girlfriend…?!”

“Yes, Girlfriend.” Bae Joohyun stated with confidence. “We established our relationship yesterday, there’s no way you could’ve forgotten it.”

Seungwan won’t deny, hearing “Girlfriend” from the raven-haired woman’s lips gave her a sudden wave of feelings… _but her mother didn’t raise her emotionally weak to succumb that easily._

She is a strong woman with a strong heart. _Keep it together, Son Seungwan._

“Yah.” Seungwan leaned on the long table as she slammed her hands. “I don’t remember agreeing with your crazy farce.”

The taller woman raised a brow.

“You confessed to me.”

“I **didn’t** confess to you.” Seungwan tried to emphasize by squinting her eyes.

“You said you love me.”

“I didn’t-”

“You did, Son Seungwan. We both clearly heard it. Are you trying to make a fool out of me?” Joohyun then interlaced her fingers and rested her head above it. “I’m going to repeat the question. You said ‘I love you’, am I correct?”

Seungwan blinked involuntarily with the sudden domination from the other woman. _Damn, the Bae Joohyun power_.

“O-Okay, maybe I did say that, but-”

“Then you did confess to me. I accepted it. It’s as simple as that, isn’t it?”

_Check._

“B-But that doesn’t mean that I agree to go out with you-”

“ _‘If I told you that I love you right at this very moment, then you’re going to accept my confession and go out with me.’_ \- That was your exact words yesterday.”

_Damn this woman and her precise memory._

“...Y-yeah…”

“I accepted your confession, it means you’re technically agreeing to go out with me.”

_Checkmate. Damn it to hell._

Seungwan raised her right hand to massage her head currently throbbing with indescribable pain with everything that is going on around her. Sensing this, Joohyun released a sigh.

“If it isn’t clear yet, then allow me to clarify.” Joohyun raised her head to look at the brunette. “Look at me, Son Seungwan.”

The Engineering student slowly raised her head to answer the other woman’s request.

Her dark brown orbs filled with no doubt of sincerity made her… weirdly vulnerable.

"I'm serious with this relationship, I'm serious with you."

_Damn this woman._

_Now… what should she feel about this?_

_It was not her intention at all for things to be this serious._

Seungwan battled Bae Joohyun’s gaze with all of her understanding as she closed her eyes.

Despite their vicious exchange of hostility, Bae Joohyun is... still a human with a heart - _regardless of how stoned it is_ \- and she also deserves an explanation.

The shorter woman then decided to gather all of the remaining sense and courage. An eye for an eye.

“...I guess we’re not on the same page, then.” Seungwan sighed. “You being my lover, first and foremost, was something I never planned to happen. I said all those things yesterday because I…” She almost considered opening her past love, but she had decided it was unnecessary. “I…I think what you’re doing was wrong, and it was not because of a personal interest.”

Bae Joohyun never dropped her unfaltering gaze on the brunette, and it made her feel more guilty, especially as she was the center of this ongoing enlarging catastrophe.

Things are getting out of hand, but she figured they can still resolve this. If she wants to save what’s left of her and the Student Council President’s relationship, she can - no, she _has_ to end it now.

She figured this decision would be for the better.

“If you want, we can end this relationship at this very moment and-”

**“No.”**

Figures.

Without batting an eye, the taller woman stood up without any hints of hesitation.

Immediately, she marched around the long table until she reached Seungwan’s corner.

“I won’t break up with you just because of that petty explanation. You’re the one being unfair here right now.”

The pressure of Joohyun’s abounding presence infiltrating her space caused her to make a few backing steps until her back reached the door.

“Take responsibility.” Joohyun fiercely whispered as she placed one hand beside Seungwan’s head, trapping her in her mystifying rapture.

“W-Wait, Bae Joohyun-”

_“...I will prove to you that I can love you.”_

What…?

Cold sweat was forming along her temples as she felt Joohyun’s breath closing in. Her ears intensely warming - her fists gravely clutching - her stomach fiercely burning,

The heat and pressure was aggressively engulfing her…

_Wait._

Their lips a few inches away from each other.

 _No. No no no no._ **_This isn’t right._**

Seungwan instinctively moved her hands in between the almost-undefying tension within their bodies. “Stop-”

Suddenly a very loud bell invaded both of their ears causing them both to wince. _Ouch_. Seungwan turned around to the direction of the sound and she realized that the bell for the Main Building is located just beside the Conference Room.

Finally. Looks like the goddess of Luck is in a good mood today. She internally thanked the heavens for the glorious interruption.

Thank you, 12 o’clock bell for her ultimate saving grace. _#Ssw1stWin._

Bae Joohyun exhaled and clicked her tongue with a visible irritation from the interruption they had . She stepped back and roamed around the table to grab a piece of blank paper and slid it within the corner nearest to the brunette.

“...Before you go, leave your number and your address here,” Joohyun raised a brow. “... Unless you want me to page you within the whole university-wide once again-”

“No!!” The brunette grabbed the pen harshly from Joohyun which caused the other woman to smirk. “Don’t ever do that again, I’m warning you.”

The Engineering student then proceeded to open the pen and started to scribble her personal contact number until she stopped midway as soon as she realized a certain point.

It is understandable why the great Bae Joohyun never had the chance to get her mobile number nor address and it’s because they never crossed paths with each other before the _cursed_ day. To be honest, it would actually make more sense if Joohyun never knew her presence until now....

But why the hell does she know her name - her Full Name, to be exact?

“Yah, Bae Joohyun-”

“Just call me Joohyun.”

“Wha…” The sitting woman glared at her with a threat for disobedience, so she… had no choice.

How the hell did her other dates survive the Irene challenge and some are actually asking her for more? Maybe she can ask some of her past dates later.

“O-Okay. Yah, J-Joohyun-unnie?”

“Yes, Seungwan-ah?” The taller woman hummed beside her while halfway sitting on the table, observing her. The instantaneous dropping of formalities gave her an extraordinary cringe, but she had no time to dwell on this yet.

She needs an answer more than anything else right now.

“Have we met before…” Seungwan motioned the pen back and forth between them. “...this?”

Joohyun tilted her head. “...No. I have no reason to interact with you before this.”

_Ouch._

“...Why do you know my Full Name, then?”

Seungwan was sure she saw the raven-haired woman’s hand twitched, but she quickly recomposed herself as she crossed her arms.

She looked at her as if she switched to her authoritative persona.

“...Son Seungwan, twenty-one years old - Currently applied to a scholarship for students with excellent academic performance. Of course I’ll know you. I **_am still_** the Student Council President despite your current opinions about me. It is expected of me to know at least the students who are under the Scholarship program within this University.”

_It makes sense… but still, something doesn’t add up._

“...But I’m not the only scholar here. There’s no way you could recognize me because of my scholarship in just one look, right…?”

She was surprised at what she saw.

Bae Joohyun, for the first time, avoided the inquiring dark orbs and looked at the floor. _Wow, it actually felt good to make the goddess speechless._

She opened her lips, then closed it… then she spoke after a several seconds.

“...As you may have known, my classes are in the College of Law.” She heaved a short sigh before continuing. “...And as a matter of fact, it is entirely rare for an Engineering scholar to be seen in front of the College of Law.”

Ahh.

It finally makes sense.

Park Sooyoung was also taking classes in the College of Law.

Damn it.

Back when Seungwan was still happy and in love, it was actually within their usual routine for her to wait for Sooyoung in front of the building of the College of Law and ask her out on a quick date which the other woman will happily oblige.Thinking about it, it was a memory of bliss.

It makes sense why Bae Joohyun knew her name, then.

“...But you’ve rarely been seen in front of the building lately, based on some people’s observation. I’ve… heard it.”

Seungwan just bitterly smiled as she continued scribbling her mobile number in the blank paper.

“Well, I have no reason to go there anymore.”

She moved the pen to the lower space of the paper to write her address, as she didn’t bother to look at the taller woman nor expecting a reply.

Until Joohyun spoke once again.

“Well, you have a new reason to go there now.”

“Huh..?”

Seungwan raised her head after writing to inquire, until she saw Joohyun’s face only a few inches away from her.

“I’m here now.” Followed by a taunting smirk. “I’ll make you visit me soon, don’t forget that you are my Girlfriend now.”

_Girlfriend._

Son Seungwan’s breath once again hitched.

They looked at each other eye-to-eye, and at that moment, everything in her suddenly stopped functioning.

She doesn’t know how to describe what was happening. She cannot move, she cannot speak, and now she was entirely trapped within a void that Bae Joohyun could only create.

What could be the right term to describe this feeling? Is she enchanted? Is she currently spell-bounded?

Or maybe this is what humans felt when they were getting spirited away by a beautiful nightmare?

Suddenly, she felt a strong vibration from her phone - she assumed it was probably from Seulgi, waiting for her outside of the building.

Her state of mind has suddenly recovered. She desperately broke their eye contact as she tried to forcefully normalize her staggered breathing.

She almost surrendered.

Leaving the pen, she took a step backward slowly and retreated hurriedly to the door.

_But the game is just starting between the two of them. She won’t lose. **She can’t lose.**_

“D-Don’t be too full of yourself, Bae Joohyun. We’re not done yet.”

Joohyun shrugged her shoulders as she watched the brunette open the door.

Before she closed the door, she was sure she heard a faint whisper from the raven-haired woman as she left.

“..And don’t run away too much from me, Son Seungwan. I’ll catch you soon.”

*

A sound of a fallen pair of chopsticks reverberated around the small, open dimsum store.

“W-W-W-What the h-hell?!” Seulgi’s jaw dropped in parallel with her fallen chopsticks and it was almost entertaining to watch... if only what she shared wasn't depressing as it was.

The ambiance of the crowded food store didn’t help to lift her mood at all.

_Ever since she stepped out from the Main Building, she wanted to strangle a pillow so much out of frustration that the afternoon sun can’t even enlighten her darkened eyes._

_Seungwan can remember how she stared at the direction of the sunlight, wishing for the angels to wake her up from this nightmare and ask the heavenly being to probably take the wheel-_

_Until an arm chokeslammed her from behind._

_“A-A-a-a-Ouch---Seulgi-ya!!! Calm down!!!”_

_“You annoying dimwit hamster!!! You have a lot of explaining to do!!!”_

It took Seungwan a large amount of effort to calm the red head down and dragged her to their usual lunch spot, but they decided to settle their interrogation in their favorite dimsum store because of their spicy menus.

_As Kang Seulgi’s words to her, “A spicy lunch for a spicy story.”_

And now here they are, Kang Seulgi, a twenty-one year old Fine Arts student, looking like the popular painting called The Scream, has left their own lunch unattended because of her best friend, Son Seungwan’s detailed revelation of The Story™.

“You… You’re.. Oh my God… You’re the new challenger… You’re the new contender of the _Irene_ challenge...”

Seungwan reached for her glass of water to drink briefly to appease her dry lips before answering.

Regrettably, with a heavy heart.

“I wanted to retaliate your statement so much but… unfortunately,” The brunette slammed the glass harder than what she had intended. “Your best friend is cursed, Kang Seulgi.”

“Seungwan-ah…Oh, Seungwan-ah….” The other woman cupped her horrified face. “I told you not to do something dumb!!!”

“I know, okay?! I know exactly that I’m a big dumb - I’m a big dumbass, all right?!”

“If only you didn’t have a 1.07 GWA last semester, I could’ve believed you, you crazy dumb dumb!!”

“Yah, Kang Seulgi!!” Seungwan sternly pointed her chopsticks at the Fine Arts student.

“It is a general knowledge for every person that Intelligence should not be measured by numbers-”

“All right, all right. I get it. You’re a genius scholar _idiot_.” Seulgi shook her head. “I still can’t believe it… You… you’re… wow.”

Seungwan grievously lifted her serving with her chopstick, as she listened to her reaction.

“I know… I know…”

“You’re dating the Council President… wow.” Seulgi gulped. “...Everyone will be on your neck, you know? She’s the biggest fish in the sea, and I mean it.”

“I’m not interested in the sea, Sseul, and you know it.” _I’m only interested in one person, and that person doesn’t want me anymore_ , Seungwan solemnly thought.

Seulgi nodded as she understood what the brunette meant.

But of course, that doesn’t justify things.

“...Are you sure about this? Everyone will know sooner or later.”

“I know.”

“....Sooyoung will know soon, Seungwan-ah.”

“...I know.”

And… here comes the **Breakup Stage No 2: The Anger Phase.**

“She left me, right? Why would I care about what she thinks?”

_Sooyoung doesn’t care. Sooyoung wouldn’t care. She’s not her girlfriend anymore, why would she even care?_

A ball of irritation suddenly twitched within the pit of her stomach.

Seungwan angrily shoved a whole serving of dimsum on her mouth despite the amount of chili coated around each piece-

**_Holy sh-_ **

The two best friends gradually panicked as Seulgi hurriedly shoved the woman with a burning mouth a cold glass of water while Seungwan was blowing her mouth like there’s no tomorrow. The brunette can feel her whole face blushing out of heat and the extreme humiliation from the people watching the amusing spectacle.

The two settled on their blocked chair after calming themselves - Seulgi was breathing heavily with a cold sweat on her forehead and Seungwan was posing her tongue out like a dragon to chill it out. They both raised their heads to look at each other eye-to-eye for a long second until...

“Pfffft-Hahahaha!!”

And at the end of the day, they’re just two idiots consoling each other, and always for each other.

 _Nothing can lift her mood better than her own best friend, Kang Seulgi._ Son Seungwan then genuinely thought.

After their last puffs of laugh, it was Seulgi’s words that returned them back to reality.

“..So what comes next? You’re going to push this relationship through?”

The brunette paused.

What **_do_** comes next -- Son Seungwan finally pondered.

Why did it come to this, in the first place?

 _‘Take responsibility’_. That was what Bae Joohyun had said to her.

She knew she was the origin of all of this.

“...Responsibility, huh…” Seungwan lowered her head painfully. She never thought that a word spoken so small will become something huge enough to affect almost everyone around her.

It was blatantly obvious that she can’t back out now, but something had been bothering her since earlier.

_‘I will prove to you that I can love you.’_

That was what the taller girl uttered, with words filled like all of her pride depended on it.

Seungwan gritted her teeth. Out of all the times the Student Council President had been in a relationship, why only now?

Why not to her past relationships?

Why specifically to her?

Every person she had dated probably requested for her love. She had all the opportunity in the world before, but why only now?

Along with the warm haze of afternoon, Seungwan recalled the events of yesterday leading to the start of it all.

 _‘I can.’_ The raven-haired woman declared.

It was an answer to her after she threatened her and accused her as Bae Joohyun represented her own drastic failure.

And that’s when she realized that she probably had her answer on the moment the challenge was made.

It is possible that she maybe wanted to prove, specifically to Son Seungwan, that she **_can_** love her - to prove that she never loses.

That woman has always been crazy ever since she started that stupid challenge, but she never thought she was **this** competitive.

But can she do it? What if - _just a big What if_ \- Bae Joohyun has started to develop feelings for her, can she handle the responsibility of accepting the love she doesn’t deserve especially if it was just the byproduct of a crazy game that they had self-established? Can she live everyday, as she interacted with her, with that notion in mind?

She knew she should not be the one in this position. She deserves someone who will take her seriously as she explores the possibility of Love. She can’t stand playing around the fire, and she definitely knows the feeling of being someone not worth fighting for.

But.

“...Mmm, yeah. I guess I’ve decided, Sseul.”

She knew she would regret it for the rest of her life if she backed out.

As Bae Joohyun had accepted her challenge with all of her pride, then she will face her as well with all of her pride. An eye for an eye, that will always be her principle.

If Bae Joohyun wants to prove that she can love her, then all Son Seungwan needs to do is to prove that Joohyun cannot love her for 100 days.

“...I’m going to push through this-”

All she needs to do is to maintain the distance between the two of them until 100 days.

She can survive this challenge -

As long as none of them falls in love.

“...Let’s do this challenge for real.”

*


	3. Another internal mini-battle of chess

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi all!!  
> Thank you really really really really once again for all the feedbacks for ch1 and 2!!  
> I have decided to update today rather than my planned date because I will be a tad busy in the next few days aaaaa but I'll still aim to update weekly regardless! Thank you for the understanding in case of future delays!  
> Once again, I hope you'll like this chapter!! Feel free to leave comments!! I love reading them all for reall!
> 
> P.S. There's one comment here that matches almost exactly to what I was planning in the story SKSKSK I was entirely surprised! Thank you for the in-depth analysis of the story, I'll message you soon!  
> P.S. Thank you as always to twt users @redsummer0801 and @Ultramarine_WR. I love you guys!!

*

[Day 2]

Have you ever had a day when you just want to completely rest, with no care for the world and forget about the horrors of tomorrow?

 _Five more minutes_ \- That was what Son Seungwan thought as her whole body was completely enveloped by the softness and warmth of her bunk bed in an early sunny Friday morning.

Yesterday’s events have drained her a lot of energy. Despite the curious glances from the block, Seungwan returned to her afternoon schedule _as calm as possible_ right after her stressful lunch with Kang Seulgi.

_As calm as possible..._

And by being as calm as possible, that includes turning off her message notifications when she has received a brief haunting text message from an Unknown Number.

+09#########

[ Save my number. ]

13:05

She doesn’t need to guess anymore who’s the sneaky witch behind this Unknown Number.

[No.]

13:10

After that, she instantly shoved her phone inside her bag and proceeded to focus on her afternoon classes and to avoid another raging headache all throughout the day.

Now that she thought about it, she hasn't checked her phone yet since yesterday afternoon till now.

Usually, it won’t concern the brunette especially since she was notorious from being a private person. It was a known nickname within their block for their favorite bubbly Top 1 scholar to be a ‘seenzoner’- and she.. doesn’t really deny the allegations. Using a mobile phone is such a bother for her studies.

 _Mobile phone: It is an evil force that will destroy her in her pursuit of her steel-like focus for high academics_ \- that’s what she inferred.

In the case of her best friend, it is in their routine for that fluffy bear to crash within her building to spend the glorious lunch time with her so communication was never a problem within them.

…To be honest, she only started using mobile phones because of Park Sooyoung before - to have a chat with her, send her selfies, send her song covers at night, send her all kinds of love that can fit in within the small rectangular shaped object called a cellular phone.

_Until she figured that it was still not enough._

That is why waking up in a morning without a mobile phone in her hand might have felt strange lately, but she realized she was finally, slowly gearing back to what she was before - right before she fell in love, and it is a solid proof that she was healing.

She was proud.

Seungwan rolled around her bed with her body facing downward. During Fridays, her first class starts at 10 o'clock so she was in no rush to wake up.

She still wants to make the most out of her sleep in peace -

“Wendy-unnie…!!!”

An excited voice resonated around… near the door to her room, she guessed. Probably that girl just wanted to bid farewell. Oh well, she doesn’t need to respond.

Time to continue her dream. What was it again? Oh, right. She’ll make the most out of her sleep in peace -

“Yah, Wendy-unnie..!!!!”

The voice was heard closer to her, like the girl was in her room already.

Ugh.

“...Arghhhh, Yerim-ah!!” Seungwan clicked her tongue loudly, not even hiding her irritation. “Woman, this better be important, I swear. I’m going to kick your leg if it isn’t-”

“It is important!!” Kim Yerim - her 1st year college dorm mate - is now shaking her shoulders violently. “You won’t believe this, Wendy-unnie. This is an emergency. You need to see this. RIght. Now!! I can’t get out of the dorm because of it!!”

“I get it, I get it - Stop pushing me!!!” Seungwan growled at the blonde woman as she sat at the left side of her bed. “I get it. Now, what’s this all about?!”

“Wendy-unnie, you’ll be - like - super surprised!!” Yerim squealed.

Seungwan doesn’t like the term “super surprised” recently.

She had been in too many ‘super surprised’ situations in the past two days that she doesn’t know if another event will overthrow her past experiences.

Well.. by past experiences, she meant all the horrendous events since two days ago.

And it seems that Son Seungwan, once again, became too confident.

Seungwan felt her spirit ascend to the Milky Way when she heard the young woman’s next set of words.

“Our Central Student Council President is standing in front of our dorm, and that’s not all!!” The blonde covered her lips out of excitement.

“She’s holding a bouquet of flowers!!”

Huh....

...What?

“What…? Student Council Pres- What??” The brunette felt like a bucket of cold water was dumped onto her face. “What… Bae Joohyun?? B-Bae Joohyun is here?!?”

“Y-Yeah-”

“And she’s holding a- **What**!?”

“A-A bouquet of flowers…?!” Yerim widened her eyes gradually when the brunette was holding her shoulders heavily. “A-Anyways, the Landlord was actually trying to approach her but she's…” The blonde raised her right hand holding her mobile phone. “She’s too focused on her mobile phone so…”

Mobile Phone…?

Her eyes slowly scanned around her room to see her tote bag with a dim light inside.

Probably a ringing mobile phone.

“Oh shit!!!”

Seungwan instantly felt the horror like her life depended on a little harmless mobile phone.

_HOLY FREAKING SH-_

The brunette stumbled to all of the things scattered around the floor - _why the hell are they even scattered in the first place!? Damn it!!!_ \- just to reach for her bag and desperately grabbed the currently vibrating object.

What she saw then has put all of the horror films Seungwan watched into shame.

**_[ 23 Missed Calls ]_ **

**_[ Unknown Number ]_ **

**_[ 68 Messages ]_ **

**_[ Unknown Number ]_ **

The brunette then opened the latest messages while the panic was slowly sinking in within her body.

+09#########

…

[ Are you ignoring me? ]

8:14

[ Yah. ]

8:15

[ Son Seungwan. ]

8:16

[ SON SEUNGWAN ]

8:17

[ You’re really testing my patience. ]

8:18

[ Okay, so that’s the game you’re playing. ]

8:18

[ Ready your Life Insurance, Son Seungwan. Don’t even think about getting out of this alive. ]

8:20

Seungwan gulped. She blinked numerous times while reading the last message multiple times.

[ In 10 mins and I don’t see your face yet I’m going to ask everyone around here where is your room. ]

8:24

The time is currently **8:27**.

Haha.

_Ahh, Lovely Heavenly Angels. I’m going to ascend today._

“Yerim-ah?”

“Y-Yeah…?” The blonde slowly inquired.

“Take care of my Manen, okay?” Seungwan slowly turned around while looking at her stuffed toy as her lasting saving grace before seeing the road to purgatory. “I’m going to be found lifeless in a ditch after a few minutes.”

*

Not even wearing decent clothes, she rushed to the entrance of their dormitory with a speed rivaling a Mach20.

Hair? She'll just pull up the hood of her hoodie to cover it.

Clothes? Well, a jacket _is_ and will always be presentable in any situation. Hoodies MVP.

Breakfast? She’ll take it later, maybe on the way to her first class.

and Sanity?

Well, it's slowly disappearing after seeing a certain individual while opening the front gate of their dormitory.

Along with the waves of the leaves dances the long, silky black hair, accompanied with a formal blazer hanging on her arm, which was perfectly blending with her cool beauty, her cold brown eyes and her aura of sophistication, Seungwan was left with no words.

She didn't even care about her own appearance right now because of her.

If _perfection_ isn't the right word to describe her, then she doesn't know any anymore.

Her trance was broken when the opposite person finally started to speak while holding a gorgeous bouquet of roses.

“I thought you’re not going to show up.” Joohyun smirked. “I was almost ready to call the crowd out.”

“You’re unbelievable…” Seungwan huffed a tired breath while balancing herself with her hand on her knees. “You’re freaking unbelievable.”

“Good morning to you too, Son Seungwan.” The other woman strutted until they’re only a few inches away.

The brunette saw the bouquet of roses dangling in front of her face.

“W-What the hell is this…?!”

“A bouquet of roses for you.”

_What the freaking hell?_

“Is this some kind of a sick joke!?”

“What’s the problem with roses?” Joohyun raised the bouquet with her right hand with a frown. “Isn’t this what people usually give to their lovers on their first meet?”

“Where the hell did you learn about that stupid idea?!-”

“This is what they always give me on the first date.”

Freaking figures.

Bae Joohyun pouted. “..You didn’t like it?”

_Goodness Gracious. Does this woman think she can get away from trouble by just a single cute pout?!_

_… Well, actually… Almost._

“I-It’s not like I don’t like it a-and I don’t hate it either, I---damnit.” Seungwan closed her eyes out of frustration. “Can’t you see how many people are crowding over us and overwhelmed at your sudden actions?! Don’t you really have any care about public decency?!”

Joohyun eyed all of the people with interrogating gazes around them slowly.

And then she shrugged her shoulders slowly.

“They’re not you, though.”

“W-What?”

“I don’t care about them. You’re my girlfriend, not them.”

Seungwan swore her heart can compete with Super Mario with how many times it had jumped with the way Joohyun called her as her Girlfriend.

“You’re crazy.” The brunette bafflingly ran through her hair. “You’re making me crazy, Bae Joohyun.”

“Good, then.” The other woman stepped closer causing the frustrated woman to stiffen. Joohyun gave her a smile she won’t probably forget the whole day. “I like it. Be crazy over me, Seungwan-ah.”

_This nasty, sneaky witch!!!_

“T-That’s not what I meant!! You-”

The flustered scholar pushed the currently astonished woman away from her face and watched every bystander gaped collectively with what she had done to the Central Student Council President. She turned around to see Kim Yerim peeking at the gate with an absolute widened eye, almost rivaling Mike Wazowski from Monsters, Inc.

Oh, boy.

She had a lot of explaining to do later with her dorm mate.

Son Seungwan heaved a very deep sigh to settle this chaos… _as calm as possible_.

Calm as possible? Yeah, right. As if. Can she really survive this insane _Irene_ challenge? Her sanity might probably be the first to be done before the challenge in this pace, she thought.

She opened her eyes and glared at the woman causing all of this morning’s mess - This ominous… enchanting witch.

“Follow me.” Seungwan commanded with a deep voice. “Let’s settle this privately somewhere.”

*

“One Grapefruit green tea ade, 50% sugar with Coconut Jelly and Pearls, please.” Seungwan ordered absentmindedly, like she was reciting a formula deeply engraved in her brain.

The brunette sighed. In the thirty minutes of her being awake, she had deeply sighed multiple times more than what she normally does for, like a week.

She needs her comfort drink the most after forcefully dragging the currently most stressful person in her life to the nearest Gong Cha Tea House which is only a minute walk from her dorm, to quietly settle another set of problems within them.

Drinking her favorite Grapefruit green tea might help her clear her mind and spout some good sense to this child of Satan.

“Got it.” The cashier noted. “Anything else you’d like to add?”

Seungwan scratched her temple. Does that woman even drink Milk Tea?

“What would you recommend, Dahyunnie?” She quietly inquired. “You know, for someone new with these kinds of drinks.”

“W-What..? Oh.” The part-timer cashier and her new friend Kim Dahyun - _for being an everyday regular customer_ \- noticed the remarkable woman sitting beside and looking at the window glass with her arms crossed. Of course Dahyun would recognize her instantly.

“Yah, Seungwan-ah. Are you trying to kick me out of this university-”

“J-Just give me any order that pops into your mind.”

The blue haired cashier bit her lip and pondered. “What about some Taro?”

_Hmmm. Good choice._

“Genius.” Seungwan clicked her tongue with a finger gun which is mirrored by her favorite cashier. “Okay. Give me some Taro Smoothie with Black Pearls and Coconut.”

“Roger.” Dahyun punched the order quickly. “Oh, and take some responsibility for me if I’ll get called out in the Conference Room, okay?”

“Shhh, just process the order.”

*

After quickly retrieving the two sets of drinks, Seungwan sat in front of the fuming woman and slid the ordered drink in front of her.

Joohyun raised an inquiring brow.

“Seriously? A Milk Tea at this early of the day?”

“I don’t think you have the right to question my order as if barging in with a bouquet of roses in front of my dorm is normal.”

Joohyun ignored the displeased woman. “...And that amount of pearls in the morning? Isn’t that heavy?”

"Yah, Gong Cha is all about pearls.” Seungwan glared. “It’s my favorite drink. Please respect my taste.”

Joohyun then lifted the drink in front of her and eyed properly. “Then, this drink is also your taste?”

“A little bit.” The brunette answered after a sip. "It would probably suit your taste more. You know, a little bit of purple.. Something queen-like-”

“-So I’m like a queen?” Joohyun pleasingly smiled.

“No. Because you kept on dragging me around.” Seungwan retaliated.

The Council president glared at her which made Seungwan shrugged out of achievement. She took it as a signal to continue her attack.

She tapped the set of roses placed on the center of the table. “You even pulled out a stunt like this. This. The roses, you crashing in front of my dorm at this early hour. What is your reason, really? I have a lot of trust issues now with the likes of you.”

After motioning her hands, Seungwan grabbed her Milk tea and sipped to calm her nerves once again.

Joohyun squinted her eyes

“I wanted to see my girlfriend. Isn’t that a reason enough?”

Seungwan almost got choked by the stucked pearls on her throat after hearing the other woman.

This smooth, charismatic witch.

After gulping and breathing successfully, the brunette inquired. “A-At this early of the day?!”

“I will be busy for the whole day so I don’t think I won’t be able to meet you anytime.” The raven-haired woman nodded. “...And since I’ve been texting with a wall the whole night, I took it as an answer that I might as well see you in person.”

“I-I’m…” Seungwan avoided the gaze in front of her. “...not active in mobile phones. They’re a distraction-”

“Let me see your phone.”

“W-W-What?”

“Don’t worry. I’ll only look at my messages. You can open it on your own if you don’t trust me enough.” Joohyun offered her right hand forward as she asked for her phone.

Seungwan looked at her for a long while before slowly unlocking her phone and opened her Messaging application. She opened the first thread with an unregistered number and handed her phone onto the reaching hand.

She watched the Council President’s expression while scrolling at the currently opened Message thread. The woman raised her brows, which instantly followed by a glare, and then a pout.

“I told you to save my number in your contacts.”

“I told you, no.”

Joohyun faked a small gasp. “How bold of you to turn off your notification for my messages.”

Seungwan sipped harder from her Milk Tea. “...I told you, it’s a distraction.”

The Council President looked at her briefly before returning her attention to her phone and she seemed to touch and typed something. After a series of actions, she handed the phone back to the fidgeting brunette.

Seungwan received it back and looked at the first thing her screen had displayed.

_[ Name: My baeby_ _❤_ _]_

What the f-!?

The raven-haired woman flashed a triumphant smile while uttering a line that hitched her breath. “I saved my number and added a notification alert for my messages. You can’t ignore me forever.”

Goddess of Luck, this is too unfair. Why is her nemesis the prettiest woman her eyes had ever laid upon…?

“What the hell-Wha.. What kind of a name is this!?”

“A term of endearment.” Joohyun tilted her head. “Couples always have that. I simply gave you one.”

“Is it really necessary to name yours as b-b-b-b-Baeby?!”

Joohyun silently fished out her phone in her pocket and faced the screen in front of Seungwan’s face.

_[ Name: My wannie_ _❤_ _]_

What the actual F-

“In case you’re wondering, I named you myself.” Bae Joohyun sweetly smiled.

“My W-W-W-W-W-Wann-What the hell!?!?”

“Based on your reaction, it looks like you liked it.” Joohyun continued. “I will text you once in a while today so hold your phone or I’m going to page you once again. Anyway, at what time will your classes end tomorrow?”

“H-Huh?” Seungwan cleared her throat to answer properly. “Around six, I think...? But I have an appointment after for an hour so-”

“Good. I don’t have Council work every Saturday.” Joohyun nodded. “ Free your night schedules, we will have dinner at seven tomorrow. I will wait for you on the shed in front of my building-”

“W-w-wait. Slow the heck down!! I didn’t agree to anything you just said!!”

“Oh, really? You never talked to me properly, what more on even agreeing to anything I’ll say?”

“T-This and that **_are_** two different things!!”

“So are you going to run away from me once again?” Joohyun crossed her arms. “Is that what you’re only good at? Aside from Academics, Running away from me?”

Wait.

This woman is crossing a dangerous line.

Seungwan slammed the small table with a force she intended and gritted her teeth.

“Bae Joohyun, don’t test me.” This woman definitely hit an irritating nerve on her. How dare she talk about running away?

How dare she accuse her of running away?

“You don’t know me nor my story. I never ran away. I was the one who was left in the freaking air alone, so don’t give me that bullshit narrative that I run away because I **_never_** -” She clutched her fist. “I… never ran away. I’ll never run away.”

Joohyun then smirked at her and replied.

“I’ll take it as a ‘Yes’ to my invitation, then.”

This menacing witch.

“You asshole…”

“You told me you’ll never run away...” Joohyun leaned in and looked at her with a taunt.

They are once again in their internal mini battle of chess.

“...Then prove it to me, Son Seungwan. Have dinner with me tomorrow.”

*

[Day 3]

Seungwan’s vision was greeted by a white ceiling.

She closed her eyes and brushed her hair with her left hand with an attempt to lessen the impending headache out of stress as she clutched a worned out pen with her right hand.

The tired Engineering student raised her head to look at the ink-filled paper placed untouched on the top of her desk.

“...This is the solution I’ve come up with, but…” A pink-haired woman named Sana Minatozaki scratched her head. “...It feels like something is missing.”

Seungwan bit her lip unconsciously as she thought critically. She never expected a difficult problem would come up in the middle of her supposed-to-be-only-an-hour of tutoring with one of her closest classmates.

Tutoring - It was her mini-sideline. The world is cold and harsh and she knew she needed to carry her own weight to survive in the natural selection of life, and one of it is to acquire money outside of her allowance.

Why tutoring, people asked. _Why not?_ , Seungwan would probably answer. She had the time, she had the skill, she had the knowledge, and she had interested clients. This setup fits her the most, at the same time and most of all, she likes the feeling of helping a person in need.

Her sideline only happens on Saturdays, and it is usually a smooth flow of knowledge exchange that happens within an hour -- and rarely a case where there is a complicated topic which they usually dwell into in more than the planned minutes to solve.

\-- Like today’s instance.

Seungwan meticulously looked at their current list of formulas in a small ½ index card.

A single problem was taking them a worrying amount of time, but Seungwan can be easily energized by pressure. Looking at the index card and the problem back-and-forth, and after a few minutes…

“Ah! Found it!” She lifted her pen. “We should add the value of the gravity in the formula like this…”

“Ahh!! That makes sense!!” Sana gasped in awe as she watched the focused brunette in answering the problem like a final boss.

After a few scribbles of numbers and a big motion of encircling the last value written, Seungwan proudly smiled. “This is the final answer. Always remember that if a problem involves a Projectile Motion, the formula will be under the influence of gravity.”

“I totally forgot about that.. This is amazing!! Thank you, Seungwan-ah!!” Sana clapped before she retrieved the paper with their answer and folded it. “This progress is good for now! I think I can manage the rest!”

Seungwan nodded and stood absentmindedly to stretch her body. Sana followed her after gathering her things.

“I’m really sorry for taking too much of your time today..” The pink-haired woman apologetically smiled. “I should’ve picked a more appropriate problem..”

“No! Not at all. It was my fault as well for not realizing what was needed in the situation.” Seungwan said while she carried her tote bag on her right shoulder.

“You still did well!” Sana nodded as they walked away from the vacant room. “If it was just me alone, it would take me - like - the whole night! Meanwhile, it only took you two hours..”

“...”

Wait.

What?

Seungwan stopped on her tracks. “Two hours..?”

“Yeah.. Two hours..” The pink-haired woman turned around with a puzzled expression while raising her wrist with a watch. “It’s already 8:17, Seungwan-ah.”

Eight.. Eight….

Her breathing suddenly stopped.

Like a flash, her hands were instantly, frantically fishing her tote bag to find her current impending demise in the form of a mobile phone.

It is her personal rule to turn off her mobile phone during her appointments, and she completely forgot to inform _her_ that it would take her too much time for today’s tutoring. Damn.

She turned on her phone with a silent prayer in her mind.

**_[3 new messages]_ **

**_[My baeby_ ** **_❤_ ** **_]_ **

With a shaking finger, she opened the thread.

[My baeby ❤]

[My class has ended.]

17:55

[I’m in front of my building.]

18:05

Seungwan slowly read the last message like a countdown of her life.

[I’ll wait for you.]

18:34

She looked at the current hour hurriedly. **_20:34_**

...It couldn’t be, right?

**_Bae Joohyun won’t probably wait for her, right?_ **

She blinked her eye nervously.

“H-Hey, Sana-ya. I’ll.. uhh.. I think I need to go ahead. I-I’m sorry I...” Without giving another glance, Seungwan followed her gut and ran as fast as she could.

Damn it.

She doesn’t know why she was charging off with every bit of her strength all the way outside of her building to cross the road all the way to the College of Law.

_It’s impossible._

The Central Student Council President won’t wait for her. It’s impossible.

Why would she wait for her in the first place?

Bae Joohyun is the authority, the leader, the law of this campus.

The people should be the one waiting for Bae Joohyun, and not the other way around.

It would be impossible for her to be still in front of the building at this hour, Seungwan was sure of this fact enough.

But why was she still running?

Why is her heart still expecting something at the end of the line, even if it seems impossible?

She was not athletic at all and she’s wincing at every long step she took out of fatigue, but she hated the fact more that she wouldn’t stop running.

The College of Law was getting more visible as every second passed by, and every second recalls every scene from a memory she would never want to remember.

Each huff of air remembers the cries over her heartbreak as she draws near the presence of the past love she wanted to forget.

She cursed the building, she cursed the shed where she was always waiting, she cursed everything in that area -- And yet here she was, taking a step inside it once again with a crazy thing like **_hope_**.

Life is so ironic.

And life didn’t make much more sense when she saw her.

**_Bae Joohyun._ **

She was there.

**Bae Joohyun.**

She was sitting on the shed bench in front of her building.

**Bae Joohyun**.

With her eyes closed, her feet swinging along with the cold wind of the night, she was there.

**_Bae Joohyun waited for her._ **

And that thought alone, was enough for her heart to break tremendously.

She walked slowly, subconsciously, catching her breath, until she was in front of the depleted woman.

“You’re still here.”

Joohyun slowly opened her eyes and softly chuckled from the daze of a nap.

“...You sure took your time, Seungwan-ah.”

Seungwan shakily bit her lip and clenched her fist harshly.

“Why are you still here!?! Why did you wait for me?! I didn’t ask you to wait for me!!” She closed her eyes to stop her tears. “Y-You’re not supposed to wait for me..”

“..You said you won’t run away.” Joohyun looked at her directly in the eyes. “... and I believe in you.”

At that time, she realized two things.

 ** _One_** , is that no matter how much she has denied it, Seungwan was really relieved that Bae Joohyun had waited for her, that maybe, possibly, _she was someone actually worth waiting for._

“...And see? You’re finally standing here in front of this building now, with me.”

Suddenly, what she saw immediately defied every misconception she had for the woman in front of her.

Bae Joohyun, The Central Student Council President - The insinuator of the _Irene_ challenge - Her newly established lover - finally flashed the first genuine smile she had ever seen.

She was stunned.

She was speechless.

What she saw was so breathtaking, more than the twinkle of any stars above her.

Eventually, it took her a few seconds of stupor to understand and ultimately realize the second fact:

 ** _That lastly_** , Bae Joohyun is also a human, just like her.

*


	4. Burger joints and rooftop surprises

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> HI ALL,
> 
> EMERGENCY MEETING EMERGENCY MEETING WENDY PHOTOSHOOT FOR OCTOBER!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
> 
> THE FINEST VOCALIST WENDY SON!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
> 
> I am so happy with all the news about Wendy that I had tears in my eyes. I hope everyone had a good week too!
> 
> Wow the theories in the comments are getting closer to what I have in mind!! You guys are amazing!! It warms my heart so much, thank you very much everyone for your support!!<3
> 
> This chapter marks the first appearance of one of the key characters in the story. I hope everyone will enjoy the current build up and how it will continue on the next chapters to come!
> 
> Feel free to leave comments and your thoughts!! I absolutely love everything you posted! This week I might have the time to answer your comments hehe.
> 
> P.S. Shoutout to these two always!! @redsummer0801 and @Ultramarine_WR in twitter!! You guys are the best!!

*

[Day 3.5]

Have you ever had a moment that some situations might seem impossible to happen at first glance?

Yep, it’s impossible. - Son Seungwan thought after sitting on a bench on the rooftop of their university’s main building in the middle of the deep night, which is usually inaccessible to the student body unless you have connections… like a certain troublesome _Student Council President_.

Yes. It’s totally impossible. - Seungwan thought while holding a still-unattended Roast Beef Burger from Subway - _because it’s something that she can only afford for two people that was still open around 9:00p.m -_ as her… or their dinner out of a rushed decision. Fast food chains can attract a lot of unnecessary attention so she had decided for them to settle in a secluded place like a rooftop or sorts.

…Yes. It’s definitely impossible. - Seungwan thought as she watched the woman beside her, in a white button down with a black slacks combination, a cleanly folded black blazer placed on her lap, biting the burger with poise at the same time munching it like a little happy kid.

Maybe she was still dreaming, she pondered. The past four days are too crazy to still believe she was still in the realms of reality, now that she thought about it.. Maybe Seungwan was teleported to some surreal alternate universe after she entered the Main Building last Wednesday and there are a list of tasks that she had to complete to bring her back to reality and she had to guess who’s the impostor-

“...Is there something wrong?” Joohyun muttered after cleaning her lips with her handkerchief after a bite. “You kept on looking at my face since we’ve arrived here.”

The brunette gulped like she’s guilty of a heavy crime.

Well, it’s not a crime to look at Bae Joohyun, right? A Reality Check, probably? Especially the situation is too unbelievable, especially if it’s -

“It’s just…” She scratched her temple. “You know, you and a burger... it’s a very... unusual combination.”

Joohyun looked at the half-bitten burger on her hands intensely.

“You’re the one who bought this. If only you allowed me to treat you in a restaurant around here, we could’ve had a proper meal.”

“As if I’m going to let you treat me after everything you did today.”

Everything, starting from the Dormitory invasion, to an extravagant bouquet of flowers, to terms of endearments, and…

Waiting for her for two **_freaking_** hours.

“If this burger treat is a pity meal, then you don't have to.” Joohyun looked at her. “It’s my decision to wait for you. I chose it. You don’t need to feel guilty about it.”

“There’s no way I won’t feel guilty about it! You waited for hours!!”

“But you still came. That’s enough for me for now.”

“B-But… Argh.” The brunette scratched her head from frustration. She’s going to lose ten years of lifespan just by debating with this woman. “I really can’t understand you.”

Joohyun simply smirked at her as her answer. Damn, this woman is so frustrating.

“As if your food tastes are understandable enough: Milk Tea in the morning, and a Burger for dinner.”

“Stop judging me, I told you. Both are good, you can’t deny it.”

Bae Joohyun lifted the burger in front of her. “...Surprisingly, I agree. This burger is… quite acceptable.” She ended her statement with a pose.

  
“.....Pffft.”

A chuckle from the brunette caused the confused president to raise a brow.

“That felt like a line from a commercial. You know, you can also be an endorser of a burger joint if you want to.”

“Really?” Joohyun looked at her playfully. “Do you think a burger joint will sell well if I’ll endorse it? Shall I wear aprons?”

“Totally.” Seungwan motioned her hands around them. “Have you seen all of the student body present in this prestigious University? They’ll be head over heels for you. I swear, your burger joint will be empty in no time.”

She saw a gentle smile from the woman beside her which caused her hands to stop moving.

“Are you going to be a customer of mine, then?”

It’s weird.

It’s just a simple, innocent question out of their silly banter, but she doesn’t know why her heart thumped.

“I-I don’t know, maybe? P-probably? Just a single burger, I guess…?”

The smile grew wider, and her heart thumped faster. Damn it.

Probably just from the Milk Tea.

“Then if you’ll be a satisfied customer, it will be worth it.”

Does Milk Tea effects include extreme body warmth? She hopes it does, because she can feel her face and chest getting warmer abnormally and she cannot think of any other explanations aside from this.

The night is cold with the welcome of the fall season, but here she was, sweating a lot just from a few ambush of words from the enchanting woman.

Wait, cold...

She turned around to look at Joohyun as her side bangs and soft eyelashes danced along with the breeze of the night.

Her arms are still and her shoulders are raised as if she was shielding herself.

This is crazy.

She was exposed numerous hours from this chilly night, yet she still tries to appear so strong.

What a crazy, attentive woman.

She really can’t understand Bae Joohyun.

Seungwan placed her burger down beside her and gently tapped Joohyun’s lap.

“Let me borrow your blazer for a bit.”

Joohyun tilted her head. “Why would you need my blazer-”

“Don’t worry, I won’t do anything to it. Just trust me.”

The raven-haired suspiciously grabbed her blazer and handed it to the reaching right hand of Seungwan. “...Is this a payback from what I did to your phone earlier?”

“Probably.”

Seungwan unfolded the blazer properly and made a swifting motion to wrap it around Joohyun’s shoulders.

“...Always keeping up a front... Don’t try to act so strong in front of me, Joohyun-unnie.”

The motion caused Joohyun to raise her head and now their noses are only a few inches apart.

She can feel her warm huffs of breath and it’s almost driving her crazy.

After fixing the collar of her blazer, she looked at those pairs of eyes back filled with an unreadable expression.

This woman who always marches forward filled with power and authority, her actions could’ve been influenced with the whole mass relying and depending on her for years.

But right now, at this very moment, Bae Joohyun is just a woman who enjoys mocking her food tastes; a woman that enjoys dreaming about Burger Joints.

Right now, Bae Joohyun is just… her.

And Seungwan felt the sudden desire to see more glimpse of rawness from the woman in front of her.

“...You can rely on me whenever you need me.”

She slowly scooted back on her seat despite the intensifying stare from the dumbfounded woman and simply resumed her dinner.

After a few seconds of munching, she noticed that Joohyun remained still from their previous position without moving her eyesight away from her.

“W-What, did I say something wrong...?”

Joohyun continued to look at her after ten-odd seconds..

Until she cackled…

And suddenly she laughed out loud.

What the actual hell?

“Pffft-- Hahahahahaha!!” Joohyun covered her outburst by the back of her hand. This was so sudden. What was so funny about it?!

Before she could even complain, Joohyun deeply sighed.

Yep. This is totally impossible - Seungwan thought once again. She was almost convinced everything is a dream as she saw a sudden, tender smile from the long-haired woman whom she greatly despised just a few days ago.

“You really never fail to surprise me, Son Seungwan.”

*

[Day 5]

“You really never fail to surprise me, Bae Joohyun.”

Seungwan gasped when she looked at the prices each meal had as the trio settled in a fancy restaurant a few blocks away from their campus.

 ** _Trio_** , you wondered? Absolutely. She, Bae Joohyun, and of course, her favorite person in the world aside from her family, her personal fluffy bear-slash-photographer, Kang Seulgi.

After their impromptu dinner, the Great Bae Joohyun insisted for them to have a proper meal for their first proper date in a proper restaurant. Seungwan tried to convince her they don’t need to have an extravagant meal like that but Joohyun insisted - _of course with a pout, in front of her dormitory gates at 10:00p.m. as she escorted her home_. Now, how could she resist her?!

This sneaky, charismatic witch.

They had decided to have their first formal date during lunchtime right after the new week started. It was an advantageous setup for both of them. Rarely do people go to an expensive restaurant on a weekday, let alone in the middle of the day. It will be a date that is safe from the eyes of the gossipers and curious ones, Son Seungwan believed.

It was almost the perfect setup.

But she forgot to do one thing.

Just one thing…

She forgot to inform Kang Seulgi that she will be having an extravagant lunch date with their Central Student Council President.

So as soon as she stepped outside the building right before 12:00 p.m. ticks, she suddenly felt a massive stress-induced headache that she can’t help but to massage her wrinkling forehead. Two people were waiting for her in front of the Engineering building sheds.

Kang Seulgi and Bae Joohyun, with Seulgi observing the raven-haired woman suspiciously with her eyes squinting with her head forward as if to recognize her properly because of her poor eyesight, and Joohyun elegantly sitting on the bench shed, reading a book with unbelievable thickness that can rival a thousand year old encyclopedia, Seungwan guessed it’s probably from her Law classes.

These two significant people in her life, in the same area.

What a wild combination.

As Seungwan marched nervously in front of them, she quickly explained to Joohyun the situation and her grave mistake.

“...But today is supposed to be our first real date.” Joohyun glared at her.

“I-I know, but I can’t leave Seulgi alone. Can't she join us just this once?” Seungwan desperately pleaded.

After a few "please"s, the frustrated woman sighed out of defeat. Ahhh, the mighty Bae Joohyun!

And now here they are, sitting at a classy restaurant, with sparkly chandeliers and utensils, the best friend duo could only gasp when Joohyun declared that the lunch will be her treat.

“Seungwan-ah…” Seulgi slowly muttered. “I think my eyes are getting worse, I can’t count the zeroes of this dish properly… H-how can a soup be this expensive…?!”

“I know, right…” Seungwan gulped. She can’t properly pick a food without worrying about the cost.

She’s not accustomed to this life at all.

As if on cue, Joohyun interlaced her fingers and rested her head on it.

“Just pick anything you want to eat. It’s all on me. I want you two to enjoy the food exclusively served here.”

“Damn…” The two friends chorused.

“Best woman of this Generation.” Seungwan uttered while nodding.

“Best woman of this Generation, indeed.” Seulgi agreed.

After scanning the menu, the three students finally settled on the order of their choice and Joohyun asked for the waiter to tend to their requests expertly.

Seungwan simply watched the spectacle.

The way Joohyun interacted with the waiter, dictated their orders and answered the man’s inquiries, it shows how frequent she is in these types of restaurants.

Compared to Milk Tea and Subway burgers, Seungwan realized:

**_So this is Bae Joohyun’s world._ **

Their difference in lifestyle made her stiffen and inexplicably nervous,

And unnecessarily conscious.

Thankfully, as if she can read her mind, it was Seulgi’s voice that stopped her from the spiral of negative thoughts.

“This place looks very polished..” Seulgi roamed her eyes around the area. “It was greatly built and designed, like with a purpose to show that it has class with the way the chandelier was placed at the center, and the curve of the windows…”

Ahh, Seulgi and her art appreciation moment.

Like a hint, she turned to Joohyun with an amused eye on the red-haired woman. “By the way, this is Kang Seulgi, my best friend since high school. Currently she’s taking Fine Arts classes, so this…” she pointed with her thumb. “..is a normal occurrence every time she’s in a new area.”

“Interesting…” Joohyun nodded out of understanding. When Seulgi turned on the pair, Joohyun reached her right hand forward with a bow. “I’m Bae Joohyun. I would assume you already know my role and title as we study under the same university, but feel free to get comfortable with me, especially it is expected that we will have further interactions soon.” She flashed a small smile.

“A-Ah, yes.” Seulgi reached for her hand to shake and bowed the same. “Seungwan-ah has mentioned you a lot, so feel free to get comfortable with me, as well.”

The brunette instantly turned her eyes and glared at her ferociously.

This chatter bear…!!

“Oh, she did?” Joohyun smirked triumphantly.

“Yes!” Seulgi happily answered. “My best friend may be dumb at times, but she’s serious at any situations and challenges given to her, so don’t worry!”

“Yah, Kang Seulgi-”

“Thank you for your concern, but I would like to assure you as well that you won’t have to worry with your best friend here.” Joohyun looked at her with determined eyes.

An eyes filled with weight.

“I’m serious with her, so I am thankful for any support that you may bless us.”

What the hell?! Why does this feel like an instant Meet the Parents event?!

“Yah…!!”

“I am willing to support anything that will make my best friend happy… but...” Seulgi nodded as she continued.

She felt like her heart stopped and ached at the same time when the question she wanted to so ask badly has finally surfaced.

“For how long are you planning to get involved with Seungwan-ah?”

She felt a stab in the heart.

Her heart… ached. Weird. Why would her heart ache?

There’s no reason for her heart to ache, right? It was a just question that would eventually be asked soon for the both of them.

There’s really no reason to be hurt by this, honestly. She should know it from the start, because everything is just...

“The answer should be obvious, Sseul. It’s obvious that this is just a temporary---”

**_“For a long time.”_ **

Joohyun’s instant cut felt like a hardly impacted direct slap to Seungwan’s face.

She hissed instantly. Hell, she was almost out of control.

“What do you mean ‘For a long time’?-”

She felt like she was slapped with an angered slip of the tongue.

**_“Something as long as one hundred days?”_ **

Bae Joohyun stared at her with an indecipherable emotion.

“...Is that what you meant by ‘Temporary’?” She glared harder. “Are you belittling me?”

Why is her heart aching?

“I’m not belittling you, I’m just stating a fact.” Seungwan crossed her arms. - Hoping to lessen the growing ache from her chest. “Relationships are temporary, and you **should** know it out of all people. For you to declare ours would last for a long time, especially from you, aren’t you getting ahead of yourself?”

Relationships are temporary - isn’t that why the _Irene_ challenge was made in the first place?

To utter ‘For a long time’, that is such a big promise.

In a world where relationships, for Seungwan, are deemed temporary. She loved once, she believed once - that’s what she did before, and her declarations betrayed her in the end.

It wrecked her.

As if she’ll let herself be a victim again of false promises.

After a long duration of tapping the table, Joohyun sighed and grabbed the glass of cold water in front of her with a quick sip.

After she settled it down, she raised her head once again.

“..I know my past reputation in relationships made it look like I’m getting ahead of myself,” she started. “But I won’t retract any words I've said to you.”

  
“Why, because of another case of pride again?" 

Joohyun looked directly at her.

“Because I have decided to rely on you.”

And as fast as a clap, every strain of rage instantly melted within Seungwan’s heart.

“And I’ll keep on relying on you for the next few days to come that are not bound by any number of days that you are so fixated on so badly, that's why...”

The further they interacted, the more everything made less sense.

What is Bae Joohyun doing to her?

“This time, I wanted you to trust me, too."

…Yes. It’s almost ultimately impossible. - Seungwan thought.

“I don’t know why you trust me that easily... It’s impossible to trust me that easily, you know?”

Joohyun just simply smirked.

“I simply wanted to, that’s all.”

Bae Joohyun is truly an enchanting witch.

In the middle of their heated staring contest, Seulgi silently grabbed her cold glass and sipped while her eyes jumped back and forth between the two women with an amused smile.

*

[Day 7]

[My baeby ❤]

[See me in front of my building at five.]

16:35

[I want to have a quick snack with you.]

16:37

[Before my Council Meeting.]

16:38

[I’ll text you once I’m done.]

16:39

[Do not be late.]

16:40

Seungwan tried to hide a frustrated sigh as she read the consecutive drops of messages from a stubborn Student Council President while descending the stairs.

Her classes ended early because it was simply a Post Test - _which she’s one of the fastest to submit their exam out of anyone from their block_ \- from their Philosophy class that focuses on Plato's Theory of Forms.

She was proud. Philosophy is one of her best subjects after all. Her specialty in Academics always revolved around Theories, because she loved how things can be answered straightforwardly with a definite answer, compared to essays or opinionated discussions where it feels like she would be walking stiffly all the time around the thin block of ice.

She was never a fan of reading things between the lines, and she was never fond of interpreting vague concepts with just a few dialogues and imagery.

And she hates the fact that she can never interpret every single action Bae Joohyun has been showing to her, and as a fan of Theories, uncertainty frustrates her a lot.

She looked at her watch. **4:43 p.m.**

Figures. She maintained her march with no urgency on her way to the College of Law.

It was a good day.

Wow. She can’t believe she's saying this while walking this calmly on her way to a place that has previously traumatized her just a few weeks ago.

She can still remember the heavy steps that led her to an impossibility that managed to break the chains of her past love.

Now, as she gradually goes near to the College of Law, the memories of that area were slowly getting replaced with a vision of an annoying woman who loves to irritate her at any given opportunity, rather than a remnant of her failure in love.

_And probably, she’s also slowly getting fond of Joohyun’s presence._

**4:55 p.m.** She checked the time once again. Ahh, an ample time to settle at the bench while waiting for Joohyun.

This. Yes, This is certainly impossible. - Seungwan thought as she sat at the shed bench and wore her earphones.

The one-week younger version of her would never believe that a day would come where she would wait for the goddess of this campus, the Bae Joohyun.

She closed her eyes while succumbing to the soft melody of her favorite indie music playlist. Seungwan inferred that she needs this peace of time before chaos of her life ensues once again.

But she won't mind.

Before the last minute of the currently played song, she felt a hand clutched her right jacket sleeve.

_Ahh, Joohyun’s probably here. But that’s weird..._

She lazily removed her right earphones as she raised her head.

“I thought you'd text me once you’re done with your…. classes….”

Instantly.

Her heart suddenly pulsated and her eyes gradually dilated when she saw the figure towering her from where she was sitting.

She was shaking.

Every stinging pain resurfaced along with the fears of failure - _of being not enough for someone_ \- of **_her_**.

...of **Park Sooyoung.**

The woman in front of her clutched her jacket sleeve harder.

“Seungwan-ah,” Park Sooyoung closed her eyes.

This felt like another case of heartbreaking déjà vu.

_Please, don’t say something. Please don’t-_

“Please, don't get involved with Bae Joohyun.”

  
*


End file.
